Maryborough and the Shang family history

 

Juanita  and Keith Shang

Keith Shang and his wife Juanita are well known in Maryborough.  Along with their daughter Joanne Olsen they have been the family historians. In keeping with our theme of Chinese contributions to our community Keith and his family are standouts in that area. 

Joanne has written a family history of Christina Wilkie Hing (1855-1935), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who in 1872 travelled to Maryborough in Australia and married George Hing (1840-1930), a man of Chinese descent.

Research by Keith and Joanne has found, although the family was involved in the North of Queensland, Maryborough is interwoven in this history.

“Keith’s mother’s grandfather, his great-grandfather George Mo Ung came from Huang Shan to Australia about 1857. He was employed as a cook in the town of Maryborough, Queensland. Keith’s mother’s grandmother, his great grandmother Christina Wilkie at the age of seventeen came to Australia from Edinburgh, Scotland on the ship “Polmaise” on a free passage. The boat landed in Maryborough, Queensland on September 12th, 1872” explains Joanne.

Joanne’s research has found Christina was married on October 27th 1872 just 7 weeks and 3 days after her arrival in Maryborough to George Hing . “His name was listed as George Hing and his signature was written in Chinese, as he could not sign in English. Translations of his signature say his name was Zuo Zhi Ying. He was also called Mo Hung or Mo Ung. He was listed as a cook,” Joanne clarifies.

 

Christina and George Hing

Keith found an article in the local newspaper which states:

“On October 27, 1872 married at “Dovedale” Mr George Hing and Miss Christina Wilkie a bonnie lassie from Scotland.”

“After the birth of George and Christina’s first child Eliza on August 16th 1873 the couple moved to live in Charters Towers in North Queensland” continues Joanne.

Joanne has found that “Keith’s father’s father, Lee Wah Shang was born in China probably Canton. He left Hong Kong in 1875 and I suspect he landed in Townsville. He married Mary Jane Noon in Rockhampton where Sidney, Keith’s  father was born on July 1st 1891. He was the fifth child of thirteen children. Mary Jane Noon was born in Gayndah, Queensland on June 7th 1867 and died in Cairns on June 22nd 1945. Her mother and father emigrated from Warwickshire, England.”

Sidney Shang (Keith’s father) 1911

Keith was the middle child of seven children to Sidney and Laura Shang. Keith tells as an adult he and his family lived in Mackay for eighteen years when a position as Pay Clerk 4^th class came up in Maryborough. “I was promoted to this position in about October 1975,”states Keith.

Keith left Juanita and the family in Mackay. It was a very wet year and every time he wrote home he would say how much rain Maryborough had received. Juanita was able to sell the house and they moved to Maryborough on the June long weekend 1976.

Keith states “When we came to Maryborough we worshipped in the Methodist Hall in Alice Street. The church had been closed the year before as it was considered too dangerous for worship. At Union June 1977, we transferred to St Stephens Uniting Church, previously the Presbyterian Church. This gave us the opportunity of meeting many more friends. I became an Elder at Union and still hold that position today. I have taken a very active part over the years having been to most of the council meetings. In March 1987, we closed several churches. I was given the task of disposing all the surplus furniture. It was suggested we have morning tea after the service so we could get to know each other. I took on the responsibility of buying the tea, coffee and biscuits. I am still doing that job today, 20 years later. I wonder how many packets of biscuits and bags of tea I have bought. I generally go to the shop with my little bag of coins to pay for these.”

Keith’s father Sidney served with the 12^th Battalion in the Western Front. On his return he did not speak about his experiences. Joanne is currently researching where he was for the three years he was overseas. She is writing a book on his service. Research has been carried out on the Chinese Anzacs who served  in the Australian Imperial Force during the World War 1 but there is still not a lot known about their contribution. Keith’s uncle, Sidney's brother; Caleb,  is the most decorated Chinese ANZAC and served with the 47^th Battalion. Their flag can be found in  St Paul’s Church Maryborough.  We look forward to the publication of this book. 

More information can be found in the local history files in the Maryborough Library.

Do you know any Australian-Chinese who participated in World War 1?

Published with consent from Juanita and Keith Shang and Joanne Olsen.

References

Olsen, J., & Shang, K. (2013). With his gold in a little velvet bag : the story of a Chinaman and a bonnie lassie from Edinburgh. Lindfield N.S.W. Joanna Olsen

Tags: #Chinesehistory #Worldwar1 #Frasercoastlibraries #Maryborough

Australia’s Councillor James Chiam elected into the Maryborough Town Council in 1861: the first Asian elected in Australia.



Maryborough crowds attend Councillor George Seymour's Local History Talk on James Chiam

Maryborough held it first municipal elections in 1861 and a few months later James Chiam was elected to fill a vacant seat on Council. This was a milestone, as it was the first time someone of Asian background had been elected to public office in Australia.

James Chiam migrated to Australia as an indentured labourer. He immigrated on the Ganges to Sydney on January 26^th, 1852 with 213 other men (Slocomb, 2014, p. 269).  He was a shepherd on Boondooma Station from 1852 to 1857 (Slocomb, 2014, p. 269:p. 202). After he had paid his debt he became a butcher.

Bettany, G. (1888). Image 880.

He was one of the first local Chinese men to be naturalised and was able to do this without being married as he did it just before an ammendment to the Alien’s Act found here.This required Chinese men marry in order to be naturalised. 

James did this by taking "an oath of allegiance in Maryborough before the Police magistrate, Arthur Holloran, in September 1858"(Slocomb, 2014, 233). James was considered clever but highly strung and somewhat of a rogue. As a result he has a number of Chronicle articles detailing run-ins with the court. The first beginning three days after he reached Boodooma Station.


Others included:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/147938827?searchTerm=james%20chiam&searchLimits=l-state=Queensland|||l-decade=186|||l-title=731

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/150314276?searchTerm=james%20chiam&searchLimits=l-state=Queensland|||l-decade=186|||l-title=731

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/147938636?searchTerm=james%20chiam&searchLimits=l-state=Queensland|||l-decade=186|||l-title=731

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/150317467?searchTerm=james%20chiam&searchLimits=l-state=Queensland|||l-decade=186|||l-title=731

Slocomb (2014, p. 269) claims he was in custody in December, 1857 charged with assault with the "intent to commit a rape" of married women. He was found guilty of the lesser charge of common assault and spent four months in prison (Slocomb, 2014, p.272).

This did not stop him being able to be the first naturalised Chinese man in the region or stop him being elected to Council.

His nomination for Alderman gives insight into how the community views his character and can be found here.

He was elected as the Alderman in October 1961 with more than twice the votes of his closest opponent. His maiden speech found here gives great insight into how this Chinese Australian viewed the new settlement.

James was married to Sophia Chiam. It can be assumed it was a stormy union, as after appearing as witness in Court cases, on Thursday the 13^th November, 1962 James Chiam was bound over in the sum of £40 to keep the peace towards Sophia Chiam for a period of six months.

They separated 12 February, 1863 and this is detailed in this link.

He finished his career as an Alderman just over a year after being elected. His resilience and capability was demonstrated in his ability to conduct successful businesses and be elected to Council. His nature and regular court attendance either as a claimant or being prosecuted damaged his reputation and he was always considered with the same suspicion as many of his Chinese counterparts. His burial plot is in the Maryborough cemetery and he died January, 1883, aged 51 (Slocomb. 2014, p .273).

Do you know any stories about any other Chinese members of our community?



References

Bettany, G. (1888). The world's inhabitants, or Mankind, animals, and plants. London: Ward, Lock.

Christina, E. (2015). Communities of Interest Indentured Chinese Labourers Local Studies Talk SLQ. Bankfoot House.

media.sclqld,. (1867). v01_pp523-528_Aliens_Aliens Acts, 1867 to 1958.pdf. Melbourne.

Slocomb, M. (2014). Among Australia's pioneers. Bloomingdale: Balboa Press

Trove.nla.gov.au,. (2016). Home - Trove. Retrieved 7 January 2016, from http://trove.nla.gov.au/

Tags #Maryboroughlibrary #Maryborough #Qldheritagetourism #Frasercoastlibraries #Frasercoast

Indentured Chinese labourers and their contribution to the Fraser Coast.

Labourer working on the Hambledon sugar plantation, Cairns-SLQ Negative number: 70212

Chinese New Year falls on the 8^th of February, 2016.  Coinciding with this event, Fraser Coast Libraries wishes to celebrate the contribution of the Chinese pioneers to the Fraser Coast.

Indentured Chinese labourers were part of the Fraser Coast community. The vast majority of the arrivals in this area occurred between October, 1851 and mid 1852 with many moving to the Burnett and Gayndah (Slocomb, 2014, p. 112). These men were mainly from the Guangdong  province, Canton and Amoy. Some one thousand five hundred Indentured Chinese filled the labour gap in pastoral runs in Queensland created by the Gold Rush of 1851 (Slocomb, 2014).

These men worked hard for little return and coped with the tropical weather. They were often here to work off a family debt and got fifty pounds to return home in the event of their death, as many were still loyal to their Chinese homeland. They also were allocated one blanket per year (Ealing-Godbold, 2014).

Slocomb (2014, p.21) claims there is consensus that “around one hundred thousand labourers entered the Australian colonies, but in no single year, even at the height of the gold fever, did their aggregate number ever exceed thirty-nine thousand.”  Other figures have the peak population at 22 000 in 1877 and dropping back to 5995 in 1911 (Ealing-Godbold, 2014).

Those labourers who remained after they paid off their debt had the choice of staying in the district and becoming naturalised, moving elsewhere in Australia or returning to China. The majority between 1858 to 1880 stayed in this district (Slocomb, 2014). These men were still young and had pastoral industry, carting/carrying skills and a passion for horses. They were well respected for their hard work and known for their market gardening skills (Slocomb, 2014). Slocomb (2014. 265) states “In Maryborough’s main streets, there were grocery and fruit businesses, cabinet-makers, carpenters and upholsterers, all with Cantonese names on their doors.” They contributed to the Maryborough we know today.

These men however were never welcomed as were the European immigrants. This manifested in acts such as the The Queensland Alien’s Act  which required Asian men to be married to gain naturalisation (Slocomb, 2014, 282). The Chinese men often married Aboriginal women before the 1897 Act which prohibited Chinese men and Aboriginal women living together (Slocomb, 2014). The first man who became naturalised in the Fraser Coast district was James Chiam.  He will be the topic of our next blog entry.

Indentured Chinese labourers are one of the communities of interest whose heritage has been largely ignored (Ealing-Godbold). This was partly due to the Chinese changing their names often to appear individual in a culture that rarely afforded such expression. Additionally they tried to make their names appear more English (Ealing-Godbold, 2015).

Were there other reasons their contributions were ignored?

Do you have any Chinese relatives?  Do you have questions about your Chinese identity?

References

Image 1: Attributed to the State Library of Queensland Negative number:70212,. (2016). Labourer working on the Hambledon sugar plantation, Cairns. Retrieved from http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/
Ealing-Godbold, C. (2015). Communities of Interest Indentured Chinese Labourers Local Studies Talk SLQ. Bankfoot House.
Slocomb, M. (2014). Among Australia's pioneers. Bloomingdale: Balboa Press.

Tags #indenturedchineselabourers #chineseaustralians #Frasercoast #Frasercoastlibraries #Widebay